5 Ways Xenoblade Chronicles Set Itself Apart From Other JRPGs

Unique Story and World Setup

It’s been five years since the release of Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii, and since then Xenoblade has become a veritable new series for Nintendo. With Xenoblade Chronicles 2 just about to hit, we take a look at what made the first game so special, and why it’s one of the greatest JRPGs of the last generation.

Xenoblade Chronicles has a fascinating setup, unlike anything else that you can find in your typical JRPG. It all starts with a battle between two humongous titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis. These titans freeze, locked in battle, and with time life begins to grow on their backs an bodies. The Xenoblade equivalent of humans, called homs, live on the Bionis, while the machine-based Mechons they’re at war with reside on the Mechonis. This provides a really unique sense of scale to the game, as you travel through the different body parts of the Bionis and Mechonis. Walking through Gaur Plains and seeing the humongous Mechonis loom in the distance is a grand sight. At the same time there’s a strong central mystery in Xenoblade Chronicles that revolves around the Monado, a mysterious sword that grants its user the ability to battle the Mechon and see into the future.

This adds to the game in two ways, with the Monado and its powers serving as an important gameplay function in battle, as well as a central element to the plot. In this way, Xenoblade Chronicles was able to smartly weave plot devices into gameplay, allowing you to use the various powers of the Monado to let your party do damage to Mechon, or glimpse into the future to save a teammate from dying.